. . . these concertos sing, gloriously. With the mandolin's quick decay ¿ and its lack of ornamental resource compared to the harpsichord, a more usual alternate instrument ¿ it would seem like the soul of this music would go missing . . . Avital's virtuosity and imagination are considerable; in his hands, the light, quicksilver tone of the mandolin acts like a dash of Mediterranean sun, making the concertos more ebullient, feathery. A poor soloist-ripieno balance would ruin things, but the modern strings and period continuo of the Kammerakademie Potsdam are vivid without drowning out Avital's restrained instrument . . . the album's highlight is a transcription of Bach's Flute Sonata BWV 1034; over a bed of theorbo and cello, Avital's mandolin paints a pointillist rainbow, unlikely and all the more lovely for it.

Record Review /
Bradley Bambarger,
Listen (New York) / 01. July 2012

This is a light and clever collection full of serious music, and a lovely summer listen. The mandolin turns out to be a fine substitute for the harpsichord in particular . . . making a selection like the album-opening Concerto in D minor sound comfortable and natural. In places where the music seems more contrived, Avital's slick virtuosity on the strings gets him through . . . Avital plays his parts so well that little is lost and old works sound fresh again.

Record Review /
Ray Mark Rinaldi,
Denver Post / 15. July 2012

. . . [Avital] gives us exquisite and idiomatic transcriptions of three concerti (two originally for harpsichord, one for violin) and a sonata (originally for flute) on this album . . . Ideally, the listeners should lose themselves in the music, oblivious of its origins. Avital accomplishes this, both through his skill as a transcriber and with the sheer musicality of his interpretations. Avital's playing proffers a wide range of dynamics and tone that he modulates in an arresting manner . . . For the concerti, the tone of the mandolin blends well with the ensemble in the ritornelli and other tutti passages. It offers just enough of a different timbre and articulation to color these passages without dominating them. In the solo passages he bringsthe mandolin to the fore without sounding forced . . . In the popular Violin Concerto in A minor (BWV 1041), Avital's impressive technique makes the 32nd-note passages, normally taken in one bow by violinists, seem perfectly phrased ¿ even though each note is individually plucked with the plectrum . . . The orchestral sound is magnificent throughout, and the interpretations . . . are informed by a deep knowledge of performance practice. Balance between soloist and ensemble is good overall, and the quality of the recorded sound is up to DG's usual high standard. Avi Avital ¿ his playing proffers a wide range of dynamics and tone which he modulates in an arresting manner . . . Avital proves to be a fine interpreter of Bach, the instrumentalist's sensitivity to the timelessness of the composer's music evidence of a strong sense of "the long line".

Record Review /
Jim Dalton,
Artsfuge.org / 18. July 2012

. . . awe-inspiring skill and stylish musicianship . . . Avital's playing is nimble and precise . . . the intricate elaborations of the melodic line are spellbinding. His take on the Concerto for Harpsichord, Strings and Continuo No. 5 in F minor is also intimate and elegant . . . Avital's bright, effervescent sound brings a distinctive touch to the third movement of the Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor . . . it's time well spent.

Record Review /
Ronni Reich,
Star Ledger (Newark) / 20. July 2012

The Potsdam Chamber Academy plays very well . . . Avi Avital is an outstanding player . . . he does play Bach with passion and a firm deliberative intent. . . . I look forward to following his development, and those who love Bach will find much to savor here . . .

Record Review /
Steven Ritter,
Audiophile Audition / 20. August 2012

These really are polished, exciting performances by Avital and the Kammerakademie Potsdam that veer between bracing tension and an expressive fragility. In the slow movements Avital resists the temptation to use tremolo, opting to trust the listener to mentally extend the long notes and thereby become a genuine participant in the performance; the faster movements, such as the A minor Concerto's finale, benefit from a crisp attack and sparkling articulation . . . the mandolin really comes into its own as a truly cantabile instrument, the combination of filigree transparency and intimacy allowing Avital to take far more purely expressive risks over a broader emotional continuum. The Andante [in the E minor Sonata] is worth the price of the disc alone.

. . . all three works transfer well to the mandolin, tuned like the violin. The resulting sound is entrancing. Avital stylishly meets the challenge of moulding plectrum-plucked sound into long, shapely phrases and figurations. The slow movement of the Concerto in G minor, BWV 1056R is heavenly, the brighter plectrum of the mandolin singing out above the subdued pizzicato of the orchestral strings. Equally, the singing upper line above arpeggiated broken chords in the Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041's final movement is a moment of pure technical genius . . . Avital's mandolin is hauntingly beautiful, putting this firmly on the wish-list of any Baroque enthusiast.

Record Review /
George Pratt,
BBC Music Magazine (London) / 01. December 2012

It is a seductive sound and his playing is dazzling. Avital has transcribed for the mandolin, music originally written for three other instruments. The texture is different without being distorted. He achieves a bright and brilliant articulation in the works for harpsichord, a more lyrical virtuosity in the violin concerto and a mesmerising woody legato in the flute sonata, demonstrating not just the adaptability of the instrument but the versatility of his playing as well. His "tempi" are brisk and energised without being rushed and the slow movements are taken with becalming sensitivity . . . [the musicians are] doing more than ample justice to the sounds of the baroque.

Record Review /
Shamistha de Soysa,
Sounds Like Sydney / 30. April 2014

Introducing
Avi Avital

Avi Avital is a young man with big ideas and a very unusual instrument. Currently he looks set to become a new international superstar of the mandolin.

Avi Avital overflows with charm, intelligence and enthusiasm as he describes his dreams of bringing the mandolin to its widest audience yet. His debut album for Deutsche Grammophon is, he says, “a dream come true”. He has devoted it to the music of J.S. Bach, one of his greatest musical passions. The programme features his own transcriptions of concertos best known in their incarnations for harpsichord or violin, plus a beautiful flute sonata.

His story began in his home town of Be’er Sheva, Israel — where taking up the mandolin was not as unlikely a prospect as you might think. Mandolin orchestras were a popular form of social music-making in Europe in the earlier 20th century, especially in Italy and Poland; some of the refugees who escaped to Palestine before and during World War II brought the idea with them.

So how did Avi Avital find the mandolin? “Perhaps it found me”, he declares. “It was a complete coincidence. When I was eight years old, my parents thought it would be nice for me to go to a music school after normal school. A neighbour’s son was learning the mandolin, so I decided I would as well — and in our town there happened to be a youth mandolin orchestra that is very well known. I grew up playing in that orchestra. We used to meet every Friday for rehearsals and that’s where I really started to learn about music. We used to play all kinds of arrangements — Mozart, Bach and much more.”

The orchestra proved a formative influence: “It was founded by Simcha Nathansohn, an immigrant from the former USSR. He was a very charismatic teacher, but actually he was originally a violinist. This proved a great advantage, because he showed us that the music was more important than the instrument. I learned how to transmit music through an instrument — which just happens to be a mandolin.” All this was possible, of course, because the tuning of the mandolin’s strings is identical to that of the violin.

After attending the Jerusalem Academy of Music, Avi Avital went to Italy where he studied with Ugo Orlandi, “a real mandolin professor, with whom I learned the original repertoire of the mandolin, rather than the transcriptions of violin music I’d specialised in until then”. This music, however, he found “beautiful, but rather limited”. Avi Avital found himself facing what he describes as something of an identity crisis: the music he most loved to play was not necessarily that written for his own instrument.

Eventually he found his true direction: “One of my aims is to redevelop and redefine the mandolin and its repertoire”, he declares. “I’m inspired by the way Segovia transformed the classical guitar.”

How did he go about making his Bach transcriptions? “Both the harpsichord concertos on the album were probably written first for violin, though the scores were lost”, he says. “There are reconstructions for violin, and these feel organic on the mandolin — but the instrument sounds more like the harpsichord. My transcriptions fall somewhere between the harpsichord and violin versions, looking deep into the music to find out what it needs and what adaptations I can make. But the music goes far beyond the instrument. It is so absolute that I don’t really feel it has changed at all.

“One of my favourite tracks is the slow movement of the G minor Concerto. It has a divine melody — powerful yet not sentimental. I feel the mandolin creates a special intimacy here: the sweetness and purity of the sound seems to pluck on much more ancient strings within our souls.”

The Keyboard Concerto in D minor presents different questions: “It involves long sections written almost continuously in semiquavers/16th notes. But if you ‘zoom out’, you can hear the structure more clearly. It’s like an Impressionist painting where, close to, you notice all the brush strokes, but if you step back you can see the whole picture. From that perspective, it is a very broad piece, the drama is carried over very long phrases.”

The A minor Violin Concerto is perhaps the most natural of all these pieces for the mandolin, given its closeness to the violin: “You need to be creative with how to play a long note, how to make it sing, how to play ornaments, and so on. The main issue with this piece, though, is that it is so well known. The challenge is to make it sound fresh. We approached it by imagining we were encountering the music for the very first time.”

The Flute Sonata in E minor completes the disc, and for Avi Avital it is an old favourite. “I’ve long been enchanted by this piece”, he says. “When I was 18, I received a last-minute invitation to play it in a live radio broadcast, with just one week to prepare. That felt like a week-long meditation: instead of finding it stressful, I lived so much inside the music that it became a real joy. The flute is a very different instrument — the phrases emerge from the breathing. Playing the piece on the mandolin, you almost have to breathe in the same way as a flautist.”

Avi Avital plays a mandolin made by Arik Kerman, with whom he has been working closely: their objective is to develop the instrument, giving it the capability to project a wider repertoire in modern concert halls. “I would play the instrument, then go back and tell him what I felt it needed — more bass, more volume, a greater variety of colours, etc.”, says Avi Avital. “The result has a wonderful range that we don’t usually find in the original Neapolitan baroque mandolins.”

Above all, for Avi Avital it is always the music that comes first: the instrument is just a tool with which to express it. Throughout the album — recorded in Berlin (where he now lives) with the Kammerakademie Potsdam — he aims “to underline the universality of Bach’s music”.

“Bach’s music is full of secrets”, he says. “No matter how long you’ve been playing it, there is still something to discover every time. And using a different instrument allows you to hear it in a whole new way.”Jessica Duchen

2/2012

About the Album

Avi Avital – Transforming the Mandolin

Avi Avital is a young man with big ideas. He is determined to put the mandolin, his beautiful yet distinctly unusual instrument, firmly on to the musical map. Talking about his dream of bringing the mandolin and its repertoire to a wider audience than ever before, Avi – perhaps its first international superstar – overflows with charm and enthusiasm. For this recording, his debut on Deutsche Grammophon, he has gravitated to the music of J. S. Bach, which, as he tells Jessica Duchen, is one of his greatest passions.

JD: What drew you to Bach transcriptions for your debut with DG?

AA: This recording is a dream come true. I’ve always felt that my first major project must contain Bach because his music has always been a dominant part of my musical life. It is the absolute nature of Bach’s music that has given me the freedom to offer these interpretations on the mandolin. This music goes far beyond any given instrument.

Why did you choose these particular works and how did you go about transcribing them?

It’s more natural on the mandolin to play violin music because it has the same tuning. You need to be creative with how to play a long note, how to make it sing, how to play ornaments, and so on. But I wanted to go further: I wanted to underline Bach’s universality.
Of the two harpsichord concerti on this album, BWV 1052 was probably written first for violin, while BWV 1056 is now believed to have been composed for oboe. Both originals are lost, but there are reconstructions for violin, and these feel organic on the mando-
lin – yet the instrument itself sounds more like the harpsichord. My transcriptions fall somewhere between the harpsichord and violin versions, looking deep into the music to find out what it needs and what adaptations I can make.

The orchestra I worked with for the concerti is the wonderful Kammerakademie Potsdam, which was a great support for the challenges of these pieces. For example, the D minor Concerto involves long sections written almost continuously in semiquavers/16th notes. These carry the intensity of this incredibly dramatic piece. But if you “zoom out”, you can hear the structure more clearly. We sought to give a sense of these solid, long phrases. The A minor Violin Concerto is so well-known that the challenge was to make it sound fresh. We approached it by imagining we were encountering the music for the very first time.

One of my favourite tracks is the slow movement of the G minor Concerto (BWV 1056). It has a divine melody, powerful yet not sentimental. I feel the mandolin creates a special intimacy here: the purity of the sound seems to pluck on much more ancient strings within our souls.
I’ve long been enchanted by the Flute Sonata in E minor. When I was 18 I received a last-minute invitation to play it in a live radio broadcast, with just one week to prepare. That felt like a week-long meditation. I lived so much inside the music that it entered my veins. On the flute, the phrases emerge from the breathing. Playing the piece on the mandolin, you almost have to breathe in the same way as a flautist.
How did you start to learn the mandolin?

Growing up in Be’er Sheva, Israel, I was eight when I started attending a music school after regular school. A friend was learning the mandolin, so I decided I would, too. There was a well-known mandolin youth orchestra in town, which I joined. We played arrangements of Mozart, Bach and other classical repertoire. It was founded by Simcha Nathansohn – he was a very charismatic teacher. Actually he was originally a violinist, and this proved a great advantage, because the music was more important than the instrument. I learned how to transmit music through an instrument that just happens to be a mandolin.

As I continued my studies in Israel and Italy I tried to hold on to this idea. I explored the traditional mandolin repertoire while experimenting with pieces for other instruments and commissioning new works. It then gradually became my aim to redevelop and redefine the mandolin and its repertoire.

Your instrument is rather different from the traditional mandolin.

This unique mandolin is the creation of the gifted luthier Arik Kerman. His commitment to constantly expand the borders of the instrument echoed mine. I was lucky to take an active part in this process, as my feedback influenced the way he crafted my mandolin. The result is an instrument with a great range of colours and dynamics.

What is most special for you about Bach on the mandolin?

Bach’s music is full of secrets. No matter how long you’ve been playing it, there is still something to discover every time. Using a different instrument allows you to hear its timelessness in a new way.
2/2012